authors – Dahlia DeWinters

Who’s in Your Tribe – Motivation Monday

Hello! Thank you for joining me today on the blog. Today, I’m naming names! If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: Writing is a very lonely pursuit. I’m not speaking of the times spent on social media talking/posting about writing; I’m talking about those long stretches of time where you’re either pounding furiously at the keyboard, staring at a blank screen, or slowly but surely plugging away at your goal. It’s a solitary pursuit, to be sure. This is why, in those times where you need advice on a plot point, a pointer about advertising, or just a jump start to your creativity, you go to your tribe. If you don’t have a tribe, I highly recommend getting one. Every tribe is different. People play smaller or larger roles, but all your tribe members are important, because they are in YOUR tribe and they help you… Continued

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Cleanse Your Headspace

Some writers take a break from writing and go on social media. I don’t find social media relaxing. In fact, it clutters up the mind and may even stunt creativity. The occasional peek into asocial media platform can turn into following conversations that more often than not ended with name-calling and pointing nasty fingers. The quick scan of another social media feed included more politics than I cared to consume on a daily basis. It was becoming more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff and my space, the area of my spirit I used for creativity, was suffering. I don’t go in for controversy, detailed celeb news or negative speak. I was always one to believe actions speak louder than words. See something wrong? Do what you can in the moment. I believe that peace can overcome war. I believe in protecting my headspace. Being an writer in

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Writing is not Teaching

Nearly every person reading this has received a bad review at one time or another, whether it be a poor grade in a class, a poor performance review at work, or (gulp) a bad review on a book. Given my successful experience as an educator (backed by a file full of good reviews) my take on reviews were a lot different. Let me explain. As a teacher in a room full of students, it is your job to convey the material to them. That is to say, if you administer a test and more than ten percent of the class fails, you’ve failed as a teacher and the material must be re-taught. The purpose of a teacher is to ensure that students are learning and retaining the material because every lesson taught builds upon the one before it. If they miss out today, then the next portion of material will